Transplants, Tarps, and Tomatoes!
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Have a veggie subscription with us? You are getting this email because you do not have a box scheduled for this week, but can still make a regular order through our store. If so, please complete the checkout process to submit your order.
Order vegetables before Wednesday for pickup and delivery this week.
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Vic and Natalie transplanting arugula seedlings in the greenhouse. We lay the seedlings out in trenches and firm the soil around them. To the left is flat and curly parsley.
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Farm Update
Our first transplants of 2026 are in the ground! After the unfortunate demise and removal of the Swiss chard, we are glad to see these beds full again.
For most of the year, we seed arugula and mustard greens directly into the field. Growing transplants is a lot more work with many more steps, but for these early greenhouse successions, it is well worth the effort. The greenhouse temperature is okay for growing plants, but not ideal for germination. Placing seeded trays in the warm, moist germination chamber ensures we get the most out of our seeds and prevents gaps that we would have with direct seeding. Seeding trays also allow us to start plants a few weeks earlier so they can grow in our seedling area while the preceding crop finishes in the bed. We are much more limited on growing area in the winter, so it is all about maximizing the space we have!
Since our late-fall lettuce tunnels had long since finished, we also worked on covering the ground inside them with tarps. We lay out the same landscape fabric that mulches our fruiting crops in the main season. Our goal is to suppress the weeds before we plant early spring greens in these tunnels. The black fabric keeps light out and heat in, so it may even cook the weeds a little on warmer, sunny days. Chickweed, in particular, will probably still grow a little under these tarps, but at least this gives us a little leg up!
Our other exciting news: we are seeding tomatoes this week! These tomatoes will be grafted, potted up, and planted in the greenhouse around the first week of March. We aim to have them producing as soon as possible after our main-season subscription starts. Though it's not a large volume of plants, provide important variety in the early season while we wait for things to warm up outside.
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Ayla is harvesting spinach that is still growing well despite the cold and low-light conditions. |
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FARM STORE NOTES
FROM OUR FARM:
From the field: Bagged kale and collards
From storage: Carrots, beets, sunchokes, celeriac, rutabaga, kohlrabi, winter radishes, red and green cabbages
From the Greenhouse and hoophouses: Spinach, parsley and cilantro.
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FROM OUR SUPPLIERS:
PRODUCE
HOPE Eco-Farms (Aylmer): Butterkin squash and sweet potatoes.
Great Lakes Farms (Port Stanley): Macintosh, empire, gala, honeycrisp, ida red. ambrosia, sunpunch, golden delicious.
Daryl Myny (Aylmer): Spanish onions
Pfenning's Organics (New Hamburg): Red onions, leeks, red, yellow, and russet potatoes.
Through Pfenning's: Ontario mushrooms,. From further away, shallots, citrus, giner, turmeric.
DAIRY and EGGS
HOPE Eco-Farms (Aylmer): Eggs.
Through Pfenning's: L'Ancetre butter and grass-fed cheeses
Gunn's Hill (Woodstock): Brie, Handeck and Five Brother's cheese
FROZEN
3Gen Organics (Wallenstein): Ground pork, sausage, bacon, ham, tenderloin, chops
YU Ranch (Tillsonburg): Pasture-raised ground beef, beef patties, stewing beef
New Leaf Foods (London): Plant-based beet burgers
BAKERY
J&D Peters Tortillas (Aylmer): Spelt, whole wheat and unbleached flour tortillas.
La Houlette de vie (St. Thomas): Sourdough bread and pastry with grain that Seth fresh-mills himself
Artisan Bakery (London): Sourdough bread and pastries made with local flour
PANTRY
Aldred Maple (West Lorne): Amber, dark, or whiskey barrel-aged maple syrup.
Wildflowers Honey (St. Thomas): Unpasteurized honey from hives all over Elgin County, including our farm!
Mat's Fine Oils (Staffordville). Fresh, organic and cold-pressed, hemp and sunflower oil. Store in the refrigerator.
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Welcoming Juno's Puppies! |
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We are thrilled to announce that our farm dog, Juno, has welcomed a litter of 12 beautiful Golden Retrievers. These puppies are being raised right here in our farmhouse living room, surrounded by the daily sights and sounds of farm life. We are looking for forever homes where these dogs will be welcomed as family members. Please follow the link below to learn more! |
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PICKUP / DELIVERY OPTIONS
Western Fair Market: Saturday 8 am to 3 pm / Sunday 10 am to 2pm
Farm pickup: Thursday 4 to 8 pm
Kitchener Farmer's Market: Saturday 7 am to 2 pm
Delivery: Thursday / Friday in London & St.Thomas and area, Saturday in KW / Cambridge (schedule will be sent out Wednesday night)
RETURNING CONTAINERS
We love to re-use wherever possible! We can take our CGF boxes and liner bags, strawberry and blueberry baskets/boxes, milk bottles, and egg cartons.
For delivery, please leave these return items out where you would like your order dropped off. Thank you!
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Why am I on this list? At some point you signed up for our previous "farmstand" list or our newsletter list. Want to get off the list? No problem: . Common Ground Farm 6986 Middle River Road St. Thomas, Ontario N5P 3S9 |
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